Nigeria in AD 2070

In 2070, Nigeria will be the world’s leading economy, overtaking the United States and China. This projection is made possible by extrapolating from present trends and through a critical assessment of the country’s potentials and resources. Our nationalists had a vision of a great nation, with a commanding presence in world affairs. This is what has been termed the mega-vision and it will be realized about 60 years from now based on the following parameters – tourism, the arts, fashion, entertainment, mining, agriculture and sports.

Tourism: By 2070, tourism will replace oil and gas as the country’s chief revenue earner. At high gear or focus will be the carnivals – Abuja carnival, Lagos carnival, Calabar Xmas carnival, CARNIRIV, etc; the festivals – Osun-Osogbo, Igue, Ofala, etc; the game reserves – the Yankari National Park, the Gashaka/Gumti Game Reserve etc; the waterfalls – Gurara, Ofejiji, Owu, Ijesha Erin etc; the palm-fringed waterfronts and beaches; the splendid peaks of Somorika, Idanre, Olumo, etc; the Naija 7 Wonders including the Obudu Ranch Resort, Sukur Landscapes, Benin Moat, Kano Walls, etc; the UNESCO slave-routes, especially the Badagry and Calabar sites and the larger-than-life creative personalities such as Fela Anikulapo Kuti. We need only a policy of Re-Africanization to be the world’s next cultural and creative wonder.

The Arts: Nigeria is custodian of sub-Saharan Africa’s artistic wealth, so stated British ethnographer Bernard Fagg. Even modern Nigeria has not been devoid of artistic vitality. Our poets are legion and the country has been described as a singing nest of poets. Our writers scripted Nigeria into history, so said poet Odia Ofeimun. Nigeria has black Africa’s only Noble Prize Winner in Literature, Wole Soyinka, whose forte is drama. Our visual artists are among the best in the continent and several art movements are in existence, such as uli, ona,etc. Our artists have painted or sculpted the Nigerian Paradise – the expressiveness of music and dance, the warm and vivid colours shown even in dress, the radiant light and dynamism of forms, the curvaceous women as well as the abundance of flora and fauna. The African century will witness the explosion of creative expression that will dazzle the world.

Fashion: African fabrics are among the most colourful and vibrant in the world. Lagos is the fashion capital of Africa and the current rave are Ankara-based designs. It is available as gowns, skirts, tops, camisoles, trousers, hand-bags, slippers, shoes, belts, throw pillow-cases, curtains, etc.

With appropriate government support, Ankara and other local fabrics can take over as the preferred choice of Nigerians, when they have been persuaded to strip off their slavish western suits and other wears. Our fashion houses can take advantage of opportunities in the rest of the continent, among diasporan blacks and in the global community. The global market has already been prepared by some western fashion houses which specialize in ethnic wears. A rich sea-change in dress aesthetics is in the making. We shall be the generation that makes the cultural turnaround to an African modernity.

Entertainment: In the 18th century, Olaudah Equiano from Igboland told his English audience – ‘we are almost a nation of poets, musicians and dancers’. By 2070, Nigeria will be an exporter of rhythm, particularly music and dance, to the rest of the world. The hip hop phenomenon will be sidelined, to be displaced by more rootsy and folksy music. The Rhythm and Blues (R &B) category has come to stay and it will be incorporated in the musical inventory. The opera will be domesticated as pioneered by Hubert Ogunde, Nigeria’s Nollywood will overtake America’s Hollywood as the world’s largest centre for film production. Due to the nature of our film delivery, movie stars will inevitably become music stars with a wide fan base as in India and will be reference points in fashion, taste and manners.

Mining: The Nigerian soil is inlaid with precious and priceless metals and minerals. The Niger-Delta abounds with oil and gas, though off-shore production has become important and prospects exist in parts of the North. Bitumen is buried in Ondo State, iron ore in Kogi and gold deposits in Zamfara. Edo North is crammed with minerals such as limestone, gypsum, granite, mica, calcite, etc. Some other states especially in the North, are sitting atop fantastic mineral wealth. The crippling centralization in the country has made it impossible for states, in partnership with the private sector, to proactively exploit and benefit from their mineral resources.

Agriculture: By 2050, Nigeria will become a major food exporter, with enough surpluses to cater for the needs of drought-stricken African countries. Nigeria has vast arable lands and diverse ecological zones propitious for the production of a variety of food crops. Agri-business, Agro-industry and Agro-forestry will be properly integrated into the production systems. The country will recover its former capacity in the production and export of cash crops such as cocoa, cashew, palm produce, rubber, groundnuts, kolanuts, etc. Farm mechanization will concentrate on the local manufacture of tractors, threshers, harvesters, etc. Rain-fed agriculture will largely give way to irrigation. Crop residues and indigenous grasses will be used for production of biofuel such as ethanol. The rural poor will become the new brides in the programmatic utilization of the ecological wealth of the rural areas for transformational development.

Sports: Nigeria will be among the world’s leading sporting nations in 2070. It will win the World Cup before 2040, as much local enthusiasm and local talents are generated in the game of football. Football will be run as a business and football academics will groom stars. Sprints, table tennis, volleyball and basketball will also be priority areas. There will be planned sports development from the grass-roots and coaches from far and wide will be engaged.

Apart from crippling centralization, the cost of governance, cost of doing business and operation of fiscal federalism are challenges. Anyone advocating the creation of more states has an intent to collapse the republic. We should indeed insert a constitutional provision for state contraction rather that state creation. The present bicameral legislature at the centre is unnecessary burden on a struggling nation. Nigeria is ranked 131 out of 185 countries in the global competitiveness index, blameable on corruption and infrastructural deficits. It was a constitutional oversight to have adopted America’s structural arrangements, without the complementary fiscal regime, under which each tier has its taxable areas in line with its responsibilities. Currently our states and local governments are sinking holes into which the national wealth disappears through personnel costs and corruption. Without a new constitution, Nigeria cannot meet its challenges.

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We will achieve this in less than twenty years if we have a change in attitude from leadership to the led. If we could stop pathogenic greed at the top, in less than two decades, Nigeria would have been properly repositioned as a real global leader.

Pastor Chris

It is allowed to dream!

Levine

You must be really dreaming… You have forgotten that all what you have written is driven by technology and we have none. Forget about the guy in one village that dedigns a scrap of a car. Am talking about real technology… Biotech, genetics, communication tech etc. question how many patents do we have? Whose technology are we using and will continue to use because our engine room(universities) for this is dead? If wishes were horses….